Flying the Nest

As I reached the end of the driveway the other day and was waiting to pull out onto the highway, our neighbour Markus Husch's truck was doing the same on the other side. As he turned south and I headed north we each waved, but I have to admit that I watched his truck pull away in my rear view mirror with more then a moment of sadness. See the truck was loaded down with Markus belongings, as he is heading off to a new job in Drayton Valley, Alberta.
Certainly it is not that far and with Markus's parents still across the road, I know he will be home and therefore visiting us every now and again - but Markus has been regular around here for about 7 years and we are going to miss him.

He started working for us when he was around 14 (correct me if I'm wrong Markus), shoveling the yard after school and on weekends. Over the years he quit being an 'employee' and just became a good friend.
Markus has bailed Mark and I out of more situations then we can count over the years. Everything from accompanying me to Alaska, handling at races, helping with feeding and shoveling when we got stuck, helping me deal with annoying porcupines and more.

Certainly in the last few years we have seen less of him due to his own work and life commitments, but just last year when Mark and I ended up in a jam due to us both working shutdown at the Mill and some unexpected bad weather, Markus was there waiting to help out every night when we got home.

The whole Husch family is very special to Mark and I, but Markus most of all, as he was the start of the family's relationship with the kennel and therefore part of our lives the longest.

I know Markus that you have a terrific family to support you but I hope you also know that our door is always open to you - anytime/any place. We consider you family!

Good luck in your new job and new life, my friend!

Karen

Bait Living LARGE

Yesterday was an extremely exciting day for Bait. See he loves sit on the cars of folks that visit here. Over the years his butt has graced dog trucks, mini vans, rental cars, pick up trucks, tractors and more - but never anything like this!!!!

Yup, that's right a Beamer!!! Now that is living in style - even for Bait.

Notice how his nose is stuck up in the air hanging out on the hood of that Beamer. That's a content cat.

Now the Beamer's owner (who happens to be my baby brother, Geek) wasn't as content, but he wisely decided that as long as the cat was already up there he was unlikely to do any damage to the much loved vehicle.

Geek, Mrs. Geek and I had a lovely, long overdo visit!

All the dogs got pets and loving - well maybe not Bet, who isn't big on visitors - but especially Cricket and the Rice Krispies. Oh yeah - and Jr and Q, Melissa and Jim's respective favorites!

Melissa posted some of her pictures (which are adorable) on her Picasa site http://picasaweb.google.com/melissaamberko/ForKaren

I'm sure you will enjoy them!!

Karen

Karen

Welcome to the North Wapiti New Fangled Blog

Welcome to the new home of the North Wapiti "Pretty Sled Dogs" blog.

For your viewing enjoyment, here is a wombat.

Don't get the joke? Well you need to join the North Wapiti e-mail group to get cool insider musher information, learn about mushing, learn about racing, training, all the cool insider things you never thought you'd be a part of in mushing. Plus, you get to see Pretty Sled Dogs, not wombats, so click on the link to the right and join today. You too can be a part of mushing and help a real live Iditarod finisher and her dogs continue living their dreams.

This message was brought to you by the demented cartoonist. We now return you to your regularly scheduled musher stuff with a cool raffle post below this one.

Exciting Raffle In Progress!

Helen here!

I told Kara that it was time for Karen to sign up for the 2010 Iditarod and that meant cutting back on some of those Denta Stix in order to pay for the registration fee. As I am sure you can imagine that did not go over very well and as a matter of fact Kara doesn’t understand why Karen didn’t retire when she did (but that’s another story). Anyway we had a long conversation about the whole entry fee situation and decided that it was time for another raffle!!

Karen Ernest of http://www.digitalartsupplies.com/ was kind enough to donate two of Karen’s prints for a raffle, one of the prints is 16 x 22 and the other is 16x20.

The print is a Karen Ramstead original photograph. Her work is both inspiring and beautiful. Karen selected these images to be one of the first two Canvas Giclee's printed for her. They are one of a kind and will not be printed in this size again. Karen has signed, dated and inscribed the images 1/1. The prints were done on canvas and then stretched gallery style on stretcher bars so that it can be hung in your home just that way or can be framed easily if you choose. The print has been printed with the latest technology and is museum archival. These are definitely treasures to last a lifetime.

Raffle tickets for these prints are $5 US (5.50CAN) or 5 for $20 US (22CAN).

To purchase one, send a check to Helen -

Helen Thorgalsen, PO Box 14, Danville, VT 05828

please send Helen an email to let her know it is on the way and how many tickets you are purchasing at: hthorg@gmail.com

The raffle will end on Saturday, June 27, 2009.

Puppies with Political Viewpoints?

Temperatures have been unusually cool around here all spring. The last 3 mornings in a row we have been able to take teams out - and even do a bit of scootering afterwards - so this morning I decided that we would sleep in alittle.

So, it was up at 6 to see Mark off the day (he was in training and did have to leave at his usual 5am), then a bit of breakfast, a lot of coffee and my morning online jigsaw puzzle before heading out to the dog yard.
I did a bit of burning, fed puppies and Sprite, and then cleaned the garage up a bit before turning my attention to the dog yard.
A bunch of the dogs are blowing coat in a big way and I needed to get on top of that. I turned on the music, got out the grooming gear and headed off to get Moses - only to rush back when the yard fired up barking. Everyone else settled down quickly except for Snert, Skookum and Astro.

It took a few minutes to figure out what had them all in a panic - the outdoor speakers!

Since they were fall puppies and I don't normally turn the speakers on in the cold (kills the huge amount of batteries they use fast) they had never heard radio in the dog yard before.

I tried to assured them that the speakers were not strange, short, grey beings but they refused to listen.

But then again, I was listening to CBC (Canada's NPR) and they were having a political discussion, so maybe, just maybe the pups had conflicting viewpoints that they couldn't contain!

Karen

PS. There are some pictures to go with this, but I can't seem to get them to load. I'll try again later!

Random Photos

Just some random shots from the last few weeks around the kennel!!! Absolutely no rhyme or reason to the pictures - just images I wanted to share!!

Rob F. from Calgary who was out doing a 'Training Weekend' with me at the beginning of June.

That's Watt and Runner taking him for a scooter ride!

Sprite and 'Mini Sprite' aka Snap

My new Pawtrekker scooter!! Thanks Rob!!

A very 'zen' Kara

See

"I am puppy - hear me roar!"

Pop

Snap

Moses may never forgive me for posting this - yes, that's Mo leading Lisa's 2 border collies (Hope and Kate) and Aussie (Bruce) on a scooter run.

Toni and Runner

Just so you all know that Bet isn't stealing all the 'Cloud time'.

Crackle

Meg (who needs a new dog house - which is on the 'summer project' list)

Skookum with Charge behind

Kara checking out more of my plantings!

Play Hard, Sleep Hard, and Get Your Toes Dirty Every Chance You Can...

I believe that most of the souls that pass through our lives do so for a reason. Sometimes the reasons are obvious and profound, sometimes the lessons so subtle we don't even realize that we have learned them.

I think I've figured out at least one of the reasons Bet has come to share my life.
She's trying to teach me to relax. I know - a border collie?? Aren't they renowned for being hyperactive?? Well, Bet is a high energy gal that plays hard but she is also very adept at resting well.

Really well...

I've figured out the high energy/playing hard stuff - but as any of you that have spent more then a day with me know, I'm not good at the 'resting hard' part.

Bet is setting a positive example for me....

She tells me the secret to life is simple -

Play hard,

Rest hard,

and Get Your Toes Dirty Every Chance You Can...

Smart dog, that Bet.